The first races of the 2018 season are coming up this weekend.Saturday May 19  2:30pm WarningSunday May 20  2:30pm Earning

To get the Race Committee announcements 1-hour before each race, call the WBYC Sailing Hotline at 612-564-9292. And as usual, the Race Officer will keep the fleets informed immediately before each race on VHF Chanel 72.

Please read through the Sailing Instructions, as a refresher on our Club policies and rules, as well as the Racing Rules of Sailing (2017-2020) to brush up on the rules of the race course.

Please be aware that the WBYC Sailing Committee Board approved revised Sailing Instructions at their meeting on July 11, 2017. The changes affect the wind limits for Classes C and X. The changes can be found in Section 9 of the SI’s.

Please note that with the recent changes to the Racing Rules of Sailing, our “Letter Designations” posted on the Race Committee course board will change. The new course diagrams and designations have been posted online for your review.

WBYC will be hosting a rules seminar with Bruce Martinson and Kevin Kenny from Minnetonka and Wayzata Yacht Clubs (both US Sailing certified judges and umpires). All WBYC, BBYRA and Bald Eagle racers welcome. Must RSVP to your respective club rep. Our space is limited to 80 people.

The Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS) govern the sport of sailing on the water. They are revised and published every four years by World Sailing. The current edition is The Racing Rules of Sailing 2017 – 2020.

The seminar will be in the Commodore’s Room (upstairs) at the White Bear Yacht Club. The bar will be open for this event, but not the kitchen.

Schedule – Friday May 12, 2017:6:30pm – Social 7:00pm – Seminar

Topics covered –

Rule changes in new Racing Rules of Sailing 2017-2020 (RRS)

Course descriptions, regatta/race management changes.

Clinic/explanation of rules at the start, buoy rounding, and the finish.

Become a US Sailing Certified Judge! OR just learn what you need to know to help out!

Bruce Martinson will be leading a Judges course at Wayzata Yacht Club on March 12, 2016. Judges are responsible for conducting protest and redress hearings when competitors believe there has been a breach of the rules. Judges also conduct arbitration hearings, enforce Rule 42 (Propulsion) on the water at fleet racing events and consult with organizers and race officers ahead of events to review race documents and procedures.

Judges improve the quality, consistency, and fairness of racing through proper administration of the Racing Rules of Sailing.

What is the Club Judge Seminar?

The US Sailing Club Judge Seminar is a one-day educational course intended to provide sailors and racers an opportunity to obtain practical knowledge and skills required to serve on a Protest Committee at their local sailing club or local regatta venue.

The Club Judge Seminar is NOT intended to serve as a rules seminar or symposium. Rather, a person would attend the seminar with a goal to:

Become a new judge for their local club and able to serve on a protest committee;

For existing members of a protest (or race) committee, sharpen their judging and procedural skills; and

Lay the groundwork to (potentially) pursue their US Sailing judging certification.

$40 seminar fee includes seminar materials and lunch. Seminar will be held at the Wayzata Yacht Club and run from 0830 – 1700. Registration closes on Monday, March 7th. Please contact the instructor for information regarding walk-in registration.

August 3, 2015: Congratulations to all WBYC sailors that participated in the Inter-Lake Regatta at Minnetonka. I noticed good results from all and victories by Steve Johnson and Mark Dunsworth in the C and MC fleets, respectively. Based on WBL conditions on Saturday and Sunday – I’m bettin’ the winds were very challenging on Minnetonka.

I hope you all will enjoy brief messages from me, Bob Zak, from time to time. My number one hope is that our races on White Bear Lake are both enjoyable and competitive. These messages are intended to help me complete these objectives. This one is addressed to registered skippers, but feel free to share it with your crew or others who might be interested.

First, we have seen some confusion with the starting sequence for the 2nd race of back-to-backs. Hopefully this explanation will help. When the second race of a back-to-back starts later than scheduled, the postponement flag will be raised silently at the completion of the 1st race. The first sound (usually a gun but sometimes a horn) will be the lowering of the postponement flag. One minute later will be sound initiating the normal starting sequence of 6 minutes for the 1st fleet listed on the course board.

Second, and perhaps most important, we have noticed some collisions between boats and between boats and buoys without any completion of penalty turns. The RO’s are allowed to initiate protests. Please, everyone read the rules (and follow them!). The RRS 2013-2016 is available on-line at no cost. A link is listed below. You will learn that 1 turn (1 tack and 1 jibe) is all that is required as penalty for hitting a buoy. This penalty is extremely small considering the size of our fleets and shiftiness of our winds. There have also been collisions between boats rounding buoys. It seems to me calculating and adjusting your situation well in advance of arriving in a tight buoy rounding situation could have better results in the long run. Consider this message a final warning.

And finally, we could use help from spectators during Saturday races. We would like to be able to contact spectating sailors for help with course adjustments and other racing situations. We had a sign-up sheet last year for this situation that did not get installed this year. We have gotten some help this year (thanks Jamie) but would appreciate more if possible. Several times I have called for help on VHF radio (Channel 72) that did not get answered by anyone – so if you are out watching and can help, please bring your radio along and turn it on.

A side note about milfoil – the milfoil is an increasing challenge as it matures over the summer. Do you know that the RC boat anchor will not hold, even in the lightest winds, when dropped on top of a milfoil covered bottom? We RO’s are very aware that the milfoil is also difficult for you to sail through, and we do attempt to locate courses that will minimize its impact on all of us.